Combination tools are known in which a handle is employed for use with one of a plurality of working tools, such as cutting tools. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,559,780, which issued on Nov. 3, 1935, a combination tool is described comprised of a plurality of cutting tools normally arranged in a two-part handle. One of the tools is mounted for sliding movement and is adapted to be extended beyond one end of the handle, while the other tool is pivotally mounted and adapted to extend perpendicularly from the opposite end of the handle, the handle being designed to permit access to either of the tools. The handle cooperates with means carried by the tools for holding the latter fixed with regard to the handle in their given positions.
Thus, one of the tools is a bottle cap remover and has in combination therewith at its end a screw driver portion. Another tool is a knife blade. The back end of the handle is characterized by a pivotally mounted hatchet with its home position within the handle and which is pivoted outwardly of the handle and indexed in a position perpendicular to it. All the tool elements are confined within the handle and are adapted to be readily and easily extended to a position for use and subsequently locked in a working position against movement relative to the handle.
A combination implement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,776,443 comprising a wire brush and a scraper, a hammer head, a bit or other desired tool whose shank comprises a handle for the brush and a tubular sheath or sleeve slidable with respect to the brush and the tool shank. The brush consists of a quantity of wires attached to a stock having a ferrule in which the ends of the wires are grouped and fixed to provide an extended brush portion opposite to the fixed end, the stock being confined in a tubular sheath, which also serves as a handle. Thus, the brush may extend from one end of the handle, while other tool elements may be mounted at the other end such as a hammer head, a hooked shank, a bit or a flat scraper, etc., each of the tool elements being capable of being indexed in one of several longitudinal positions. The sheath may have a side handle attached laterally thereto.
Other combination tools are known, such as a utensil kit. One such kit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,516,458. A fork, a spoon, and a table knife are all capable of being fitted into the handle of a can opener which together make up the kit. The handle of each of the utensils has a convexed dent with its underside concaved. The handles of each of the utensils mate or are indexed together via the dents, the group in turn fitting into the handle of the can opener which has a concave dent on a wall thereof which mates with the exposed convexed dent of the group.
In the field of the surface maintenance of metals, wherein certain types of protective coatings are applied to a surface, e.g., curable plastic compositions, such as epoxy resins containing metal powder, metal surfaces of various shapes and contours are encountered. Such surfaces may be flat, concaved, or convexed or comprise a combination of such surfaces. Generally such coatings are applied using any tool that is available, such as a spatula or the like. Because metal surfaces can have a variety of shapes and contours, it would be desirable to have a multi-purpose tool capable of use with various metal surface shapes.